D'Orsay and an old friend.

I play hooky from the afternoon sessions with blessing from President Margaret and go to the Musee D’Orsay with Shireen. We have a few hours to get there and see what we can see before we are expected back at the Residence Maxim’s for a reception with Soroptimists from the Paris clubs.

The weather is perfect, sunny, not too hot, breezy, not too cold along the Seine as we walk from the Metro to the museum. We decide to stick together and start up top with the pre thru post Impressionist era since that is the strength of this museum and also holds some of the “greatest hits” we don’t want to miss.

Like my dad I spend some time trying to figure out how they turned this building into galleries and balconies from a train station with rails and smoke and locomotives. Unlike my dad, I only dwell on this briefly and enjoy seeing a Van Gogh self portrait, Whistler’s Mother, Monet, Renoir and so much more.

On our way out to make it on time to the reception I catch sight of the Art Nouveau rooms and I’m glad the museum is open late on Thursdays so we can come back. As I’m consulting the map, fruitlessly as it turns out as I get us a bit lost (we end up at the US Embassy #2 Rue Gabriel instead of 42 where we need to be) what do I hear but my name called. It’s Dan Strong (Emmy nominated writer of Recount) in town for a film festival. I haven’t seen him since a Mira Costa 50th All Class Reunion. We reminisce briefly but they are headed into the D’Orsay and we are destined to be late for our soiree so we exchange mobile numbers and say Au Revoir!

A public service announcement is warranted here. When the Musee D’Orsay says that it closes at 9:45pm. That does NOT mean you can stroll the galleries until 9:45, check out the giftshop for a few minutes and then leave. What “closes at 9:45pm” means is that you will be standing outside in the cold, with no souvenirs or children’s art books at 9:35pm. I think it’s so that the museum staff can make a 10pm seating for dinner so don’t ask for an extra minute to look at the postcards, you won’t get it – even if you ask in French.

I DID get enough time to se the Art Nouveau. rooms and would love to install almost every piece in my little Culver City bungalow. Also, this amazing marble statue that would look great in my front yard.

** I seem to be having trouble uploading images, I'll have to try again later. Stay tuned...**
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The Best Bread Ever

I had made the mistake of capping off my 3 course dinner with a noisette and consequently I only got about 2 ½ hours of sleep. So since I was up so early I rearranged my itinerary for the day and end up near Les Halles waiting for the shops to open to try to find a pair of comfy-er shoes to do the rest of my sightseeing in. Fortunately waiting around in Paris is made a pleasure by just stepping into the closest café and ordering an au lait and croissant and pulling your novel out of your bag. To me Les Halles was only worth the wait for the 5 Euro tennies that carry me through the rest of the day and much of the rest of the week. Cute! Black with white polka dots.

From Les Halles I make my way up to Monmarte and climb the steps up to Sacre Coeur. The surrounding neighborhood is the most touristy area I’ve been in since arriving. There are guys hawking I-don’t-know-what, I don’t stop long enough to find out, There are incongruous arrays of kitschy souvenirs and displays of fabric and discount clothing. (Tiny little orange blouse for Aine only 1 Euro!). But the view of the city is indeed worth the trip. I again serve as my own photographer and snap a few of my head at the overlook and in front of the basilica. And I think of the boys in my life, Iggie, Colin, my dad as I ride the funicular back down. Who doesn’t love a good funicular ride after all?!

On my way back to the hotel to meet the rest of my Soroptimist delegation I stop off at Poilane. I’d love to take home nothing but their huge, delicious, crusty, moist, burnished loaves in my checked luggage and 5 or 6 kilos of the sables in my carry-on but I settle for 1/4 kilo of bread – I’ve never bought bread by the weight before – to spread my cheese and jam on back in the room. They wrap it in tissue paper like a gift from the boutique next door.

I meet up with the Soroptimist delegation in the lobby of the Ibis:
2 women from Soroptimist International
Margaret Lobo, President, Soroptimist International – from Australia
Margaret Cook, Soroptimist International Assistant Programme Director-from the UK
3 of Soroptimist International’s Representatives to UNESCO - from Paris
Yseult Kaplan
Marie-Christine Gries de la Barbelais
Dominque Mertz
And 2 other “young” Soroptimists
Gina Oliveri – from Perth, Australia
Shireen Lackey – from Florida, USA
(yup – for those of you who are counting, that’s 3 Margarets)

We make a quick game plan for the next 3 days and then Shireen and I join M. Cook for dinner and she picks our “young” brains for our perspective on Soroptimist, community service and women’s issues. I hope we are helpful!

Day 2

This is my first full day to explore Paris. I’ve already decided that since 2 ½ days is no where near enough time to even begin to see a city as rich and full as Paris I shouldn’t worry about all I can’t see and just enjoy what I can see and do. And since I have no one but myself to worry about for a whole week I plan enjoy the simple pleasure of walking when I want to walk, eating when I want to eat, seeing what I want to see and taking as little or as much time to do all those things as I please. For anyone reading this who is not a parent, you may not appreciate what a rare joy that is for a mom of 2. So I enjoy a café au lait and croissant at the café out front of my hotel and sip all the way to the end, which is still warm by the time I get to the bottom of it.

From doing my “foodie” research I know that the Gran Epicurie at Bon Marche is a “don’t miss” destination. So the combination of fabulous old department store and dazzling food hall is definitely worth the Metro ride.

I buy lots of stuff downstairs at the Gran Epicurie to take home for gifts. It’s fun to decipher (or not) all the beautiful labels and figure out which of the tasty treats will travel well, taste good, look pretty when it gets there, and won’t melt while I schlep it around. Makerel and cheve I pick out for my dad – Bad Choice. Foil wrapped chocolate fish – Good Choice. Honey cakes – Bad Choice. Tiny jelly in glass jars – Good Choice. Ahh well, can’t win ‘em all.

I also read that the café upstairs Bon Marché was good so I take my souveniers up and get a table at Délicabar. My guidebook describes the interior as “sleek and pop-modern with bright spots of color”. The walls, floors, tables, tableware, and bar are bright white. Everything else is bright pink, electric orange, lime green, hot purple or practically-neon yellow – including the food. I have carrot soup (orange) and an asparagus tart (green). Everything is delicious, and in Parisian style served at a leisurely pace allowing plenty of time to people watch (it’s not much use to eves-drop when you don’t speak the language). I’m amazed how long kids will sit at their parents’ table eating and chatting in the same leisurely and un-harried, un-hurried manner. Goes to show we’ve trained our kids to eat and run, dine and dash. I’m going to have to start re-training Iggie to enjoy a calm afternoon espresso (hah!).

I spend the rest of the afternoon browsing Bon Marché and window shopping in the neighborhood. I pick up a couple of things for the kids and a few things I’ll hold onto for Christmas gifts but mostly my credit card stays safely stashed in my bag. On my way home I happen upon Monoprix – the closest I can compare it to is Target – except upstairs is a full grocery store. Again, a few things for the kids and also an umbrella because the skys are threatening and BBC warns that showers are forecast.

Before I go upstairs for the night I have dinner at the Café Cambronne – onion soup, chicken fricassee and chocolate ice cream for dessert. Again, a leisurely meal watching the other diners, locals stopping by for a beer, and I can see the very top of the Eiffel Tower with the rotating spot light spinning over the roof across the square. Pretty cool.

Paris Day 1

I wanted so much to focus on the content and experience of the conference I left out the sightseeing and Parisian life I managed to soak up in the intervening hours. I arrived on Sunday morning into Charles De Gaulle airport. It’s a very very long walk from the cool round terminal 2A where Gate 39 is, to the RER train to Paris. A very very long walk…and the escalator was broken. But I’m so excited to make my way to the hotel and try to squeeze in some site or a walk on one of my completely free days I just focus on following the Metro map and heading to Rue Cambronne and the Ibis Hotel.

After a quick fitful nap and I head for the Eiffel Tower, an easy walk from my hotel. The Parc du Champ de Mars which runs up from the Ecole Militare to the Tower reminds me of Central Park in NYC. It’s Sunday so the shops and many restaurants I pass on my way there are closed but the park is full of families, friends, kids, sweethearts and visitors, relaxing, eating, playing, walking and enjoying the beautiful warm clear day. I get a crepe with sucre and citron, made fresh on the spot and rest my aching feet for a moment. I walk on the grass in bare feet the rest of the way and notice that wine corks are the most common of the relatively sparse litter on the grass. I imagine the picnics that have concluded and diners who have moved on, cleaning up their plates and napkins but for some reason the cork stays behind.

The Eiffel Tower is more worth the 12 Euro and 30 minute wait to get a ticket and get on the elevator than I had expected. As one of the only major sites open on Sunday and so close to the hotel it wasn’t high on my list to see otherwise. There’s so much more up there to do and see than I remember from my only there visit 18(!) years ago. I buy and write postcards, Post Office is closed, or I could mail them from the 1 level up if I wanted. There is a café where I enjoy a sandwich and glass of wine and of course the views. On 3 levels and in 360 degrees I can see for miles on the sunny day with only spotty clouds creating shadows and streams of lights over the city. I will mostly serve as my own photographer on this trip but I do ask a fellow American to help me take one decent picture up there. You can see the Y-shaped UNESCO in the background behind the Ecole Militaire. I consider waiting all the way to see the sunset but fatigue takes over and I haven’t been able to get through to check in with home so I head back to the hotel.

Close of the Conference and Open to Possibilities

The closing session was one of the best, with summary statements and reviews from various caucuses and conference organizers. Also on of the original drafters of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights shared his perspective on the document 60 years later. (He is 90 and was a fully involved participant and contributor to this conference.)

Most inspiring was a live web-address by Ingrid Betancourt, the Columbian politician kidnapped and held by rebels for more than 6 years. She spoke passionately and eloquently with no prepared statement, for more than 20 minutes. Her message to reach out to those who live in lawlessness showed such compassion and grace. Her experience was unimaginably brutal yet her plea to us was not to focus on her suffering but to recognize and appreciate our freedom to speak out and be heard and to use that right to speak out on behalf of human rights.

It was a privilege to hear her speak. It was a fitting closure to the 3 days of meetings and collaborations. 

I called this my UN blog but it also will be my un-blog. I will continue to post, though likely not daily, with follow-up and outcomes from this conference and with developments in Soroptimist activities. I hope you will keep checking back - even if I can't post photos like this (the view from the cafeteria at UNESCO!)

In a Peaceful Garden

This is a pathway through the Japanese Garden on the UNESCO grounds in Paris. It's been drizzling off and on all day so the stones are wet and the plantings are all very lush and clean.

A photo from the UNESCO buildings

This is a photo of me with Margaret Lobo, President of Soroptimist International. She is wearing the chain of her office. We are standing in the main meeting room at the UNESCO building in Paris, France.